Itamar massacre: Fogel family butchered while sleeping

Netanyahus Response to the Savage Murder of the Fogel Family Names of Itamar attack victims cleared for publication Saturday evening: Udi Fogel, 36, Ruth Fogel, 35, and their children Yoav, 11, Elad, 4, and three-month-old Hadas were stabbed to death. Surviving kids staying with grandparents

The names of the five family members murdered in the Itamar terror attack were cleared for publication Saturday evening: Udi Fogel, 36, Ruth Fogel, 35, and their children Yoav, 11, Elad, 4, and three-month-old Hadas.

The three siblings who survived the attack are Tamar, 12, Roi, 8, and two-year-old Yishai. They are staying with their grandparents at this time.

The funeral for the victims will be held Sunday in Jerusalem at 1:30 pm.

The children's grandfather, Haim Fogel, recounted the difficult moments his family has faced in the past 24 hours.

"We received the grim news about the attack at 3 am…we were driven to Udi's home in Itamar and saw the scene of the despicable murder. We returned home with the three kids who remained alive," he said.

The grandfather also spoke of his last phone conversation with his son.

"Udi spoke to me and to Tzila, my wife. He also spoke to his siblings Matan and Michal. "We visited them in Itamar only last Saturday," he said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Haim Fogel on the phone Saturday evening to offer condolences and support.

"It's a cold-blooded massacre of innocent children and parents," the prime minister said. "I, and the entire nation of Israel, embrace you and the three grandchildren who survived the horror. I promise to do everything we can in order to assist you at these terrible times."

The Fogel family lived in Gush Katif in the past, and following Israel's disengagement from the Gaza Strip moved to Ariel. Recently, the family moved to Itamar, where it built a house.

'Boy crying near parents' body'

Rabbi Yaakov Cohen, a neighbor who discovered the bodies, said that the Fogel's 12-year-old daughter

knocked on his door around 12:45 am Saturday. She said that no one opened the door at her home, and that there are muddy footprints at the entrance.

"I took my weapon and we went up to the back window of the house, where we saw one of the surviving children," Cohen said. "He was sitting in the center of the living room, where there was no sign of blood, only mud."

They then asked the boy to open the front door.

"The daughter went into one of the rooms, and saw the horror before I did," Cohen said. "I entered and saw that another boy survived, a two-year-old.

He was lying next to his bleeding parents, shaking them with his hands and trying to get them to wake them up, while crying."

Cohen, who was close to the family and worked with Udi Fogel, said that he took the boy in his arms and hugged him.

"The girl screamed and cried, and my daughter who arrived at the house tried to calm her down and hug her," he said. "We saw the bodies in the rooms. I scanned the house in order to see that there was no terrorist there, and waited for the security forces to arrive on the scene. The sight in the house was shocking."

Social workers called in

The children who survived the attack are being assisted by social workers. A welfare official said Saturday evening that "the kids are in trauma."

"The daughter saw what happened, while the two young boys were in the other room and did not see the incident," the official said.

Although Israel's social workers are currently on strike, a special committee immediately approved an exemption to handle the case. Throughout the day, social workers along with psychologists and educators spoke with children in Itamar.

House calls were also made for the purpose of conversations with adults, in an effort to identify residents who are having trouble coping with the tragedy.